"THERE was a time when scandals felled prime ministers, when even the odd presidency died of shame. Not any more. Just as engines can be powered by the methane from pig shit, leaders in Western democracies seem empowered by their deceits, energised by the venality of their administrations.
After George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi, John Howard is the prime example. Having gained power as Honest John, having promised the electors an era of golden governance, we've had a decade of deception and turpitude. Not at all what we'd have expected from a mob of ministers genuflecting together in the Lyons Forum, from people who like to have prayers with their breakfast.
Having quite rightly protested any moral or ethical lapses in Labor governments, Howard's mob rapidly scrapped any notion of ministerial responsibility - particularly prime ministerial - in favour of implausible deniability. The muddier a minister, the more mired in scandal, the more likely he'd be rewarded".
Phillip Adams, in his mid-week column in The Australian is perfectly correct. PM Howard has thrived on implausable deniability. Read Adams' column in full here.
After George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi, John Howard is the prime example. Having gained power as Honest John, having promised the electors an era of golden governance, we've had a decade of deception and turpitude. Not at all what we'd have expected from a mob of ministers genuflecting together in the Lyons Forum, from people who like to have prayers with their breakfast.
Having quite rightly protested any moral or ethical lapses in Labor governments, Howard's mob rapidly scrapped any notion of ministerial responsibility - particularly prime ministerial - in favour of implausible deniability. The muddier a minister, the more mired in scandal, the more likely he'd be rewarded".
Phillip Adams, in his mid-week column in The Australian is perfectly correct. PM Howard has thrived on implausable deniability. Read Adams' column in full here.
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